The BBC: too much pain?

To The Daily Telegraph

If the nation’s mental health is deteriorating as a consequence of the pandemic and lockdowns, then much of the blames lies with how the BBC presents these matters.

Clive Myrie’s recent reports on the six o’clock news are a case in point. Do we really benefit from listening to intensive care unit staff having to break bad news to relatives, or watching gravediggers at work? Most adults will have had some experience of grief – we do not need the BBC to hammer home the message that this pandemic is causing many deaths.

The BBC should consider the impact of its reporting, though I suspect increasing numbers of viewers are simply reaching for the off switch.

Jane Moth, Snettisham, Norfolk

To The Daily Telegraph

I profoundly disagree with Jane Moth, who disapproves of the moving BBC interviews with those we depend upon in this tragic pandemic, from exhausted ICU staff to gravediggers.

The sad truth is that there are still people who refuse to accept the reality of this illness. Dedicated hospital staff are heckled as they come and go to work by deluded Covid deniers. Those supplying vaccines to our most vulnerable populations too often find they refuse it.

The only way to convince them of the truth is for journalists to risk their health by ensuring that we hear from those on the front line. I am so grateful we have broadcasters who enable us to hear these voices, even though I too find it almost unbearably moving.

Dame Esther Rantzen, Bramshaw, Hampshire